My bike (05rr) has been parked up for a few weeks and yesterday I moved it and popped it up on a paddock stand. Whilst working on something else I noticed a wet patch on the floor towards the front of the bike. Not a puddle but it was definitely water.
I checked my header tank and it looked to be reading low but not confident I was getting a good enough view I removed my mid fairing. With a light shone from behind the tank I could see that I had been looking at green muck settled in the base of the tank and when I dipped it to make sure...... yep empty !
i removed my radiator cap and can definitely see coolant in there. I checked my hoses and gave them all a tentative nip but none seemed a possible cause of leakage.
What I was going to do was drop my coolant (what’s left), flush and replace and just check for leaks.
The last time I was out I got caught up in serious congestion and although the fan kicked in I was still sat around for 15 mins unable to move more than a few meters at a time.
Once I got myself out of the area the temp dropped quickly and fan stopped.
Any thoughts regarding doing different than I’m about to try ? Any help would be appreciated cheers.

 

I would top off the radiator with water (be careful not to spill any), close the system, and let it run and build pressure. Then look around for leaks and see that the cap is holding pressure. Change the coolant after the necessary repair is done.

 

Thanks for the response.
Like you say probably best to actually change the coolant once I’ve discovered the cause of my issue.
I do like your suggestion regarding the cap holding pressure though. Whilst I was having a look at my connections I noticed that my radiator edge paint finish was damaged. Not sure but if the cap was leaking could over time this produce what I can see. The damage is on the outside of the radiator frame, almost sitting right under the cap itself so hopefully it’s not the actual radiator.
I’ll run her up tomorrow and post my findings.
Cheers

 

I’m waiting for the bike to cool so I thought I’d pop this down.
Topped up radiator (100ml)
Header tank (300ml)

Started bike ————
2mins 40 degrees
3mins 50
4mins 56
5mins 63
6mins 70
7mins 75
8mins 77
9mins 80
10mins 82
11mins 86. Fan short spin/ stopped
12mins 93
13mins 99
14mins 102 Fan permanently on
101
100
99
15mins 98. Engine switched off

Coolant tank now reads 20mm above high mark.

 

Was it able to build pressure, or did the cap let it all out?

 

I let the bike cool for 45mins and removed radiator cap. Coolant is at the very top. Header tank now reads at the top mark having dropped 20mm since cooling.
There was no sign of water or steam from anywhere. Under the bike is dry.
I did notice that there were two or possibly three “ clicks” that I heard during this process. Bear in mind I’m stood throttle side. They would if I was guessing have come from the water pump location. On the other side low down. Every time I went for a look I stood there for a while but nothing more, later in the process like I said thought I heard a click sound again.
Im not 100% sure if it built up pressure or not but it sure seemed like it.

 

You can tell how much pressure is there by giving a radiator hose a squeeze and feeling how firm it is. Once there is pressure, you can turn it off a look for any leaks. In the professional world, we have tools to pressurize the system and check the release pressure of the cap without running it and getting it hot.

 

I’m back off to work for now but will run her up again and do the same as I did today. There’s not that much you can actually get to to feel apart from the main hose.
I did wonder if my water was like a “condensate” if the header had run dry ?
i won’t put her back together till I’m happy and she’s proven.
I appreciate your help Cheers.

 

Update.
One drip a few days later grrrrr........fairing off job. I couldn’t let it go no matter how small it was.
I removed the lower fairing both sides as one. Once the fairing was put to one side it took all of 5secs to spot my issue. A rusty clamp with a drip hanging off it. The clamp looked poorly positioned and I would imagine this didn’t help whoever had done it up last.
I undone the clamp slightly and rotated it into a better position. I tightened her up again but will replace the rusty old thing with new. An hour later no signs of any moisture.
Hopefully that should be that......well a least I hope it is

 

Hopefully that does the trick.